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PHILADELPHIA, SUMMER 2012 VOLUME 1 ISSUE 1 WWW.KENSINGTONJOURNAL.COM T ogether, the Philadelphia Water Department, New Kensington Community Development Corp., Phila- delphia Horticultural Society, the Mural Arts Program and Philadelphia Parks and Recreation, have created Philadelphia’s first Big Green Block. The block between Front Street and Frankford Avenue and Palmer Street and Norris Avenue has undergone a major makeover. Centered around Kensington High School for the Creative and Performing Arts and the Shissler Recreation Center, the block incorporates green roofs, rain gardens, porous parking pavement, geothermal well field, storm water trees and trenches, infiltration basin, rainwater cisterns and murals. “Our partner have really helped us turn this section of the neighborhood around,” said Sandy Salzman, executive director of the New Kensington Community Development Corp. “All these wonderful pipes and everything that goes over to the rain garden center, it has just made this neighborhood so much more sustainable and so much more green. It is such a wonderful place to be, we always thought it was a wonderful place to be, but now our kids get to play on a ball field that has grass instead of cinders.“ The Big Green Block falls in place with the rest of the city’s sustainable plans, which is to green many of its streets and alleys while beautifying the city, neighborhood by neighborhood. Recently, Kensington celebrated its green street and newly planted trees through the Philadelphia Water Depart- ment’s city-wide green initiative, Soak it Up, Philly! During the ribbon-cutting ceremony, the public was given a tour of the Big Green Block and received a les- son in its operation. “It’s a $2.4 billion program that’s going to be implemented over the next 25 years,” said Tiffany Ledesma Groll, a public outreach specialist and consultant for PWD and public affairs for the Office of Watersheds. “We are the only city in the country that’s actually approaching this problem this way. A lot of cities have been doing this for a long time addressing this problem through those pipes expan- sions and treatment fund expansions, but we are the first ones to address water pol- lution through greening. So you’re going to see this all over the city; pretty much 60 percent of the city has those sewer problems. So in those sections of the city, basically the older parts of the city, you’ll see a lot of that.” As rainwater runoff flows into the drain at the corner of Frankford Avenue and Montgomery Street, it is collected in the inlets and plumbing underneath the street and sidewalk. The plumbing system is designed to hold 16,000 gallons of water, which prevents a mixture of sewage and rain (stormwater) runoff from flooding the sewers in the city, because continued on page 3 Kensington Home To City’s First Big Green Block By Stephen M. Rose and Whitney R. Segel Neighborhood kids planted flowers around a newly planted tree. Principal Christine Borelli-Connor said that excuses are not acceptable at her school. Principal Awarded for Leadership By Samantha Anderson and Justin Boylan I n 2006, Christine Borelli-Connor became principal of John H. Webster Elementary, located at 3400 Frankford Ave. A Philadelphia native, Borelli-Connor entered a school community where she said teachers were working hard, but were not informed about the most effec- tive methods of education. “Certain things were not established,” Borelli-Connor said. “If you have students who are on grade level, why are they doing the exact same work as the students who are below grade level?” The new principal started an initiative to address this. Her team began looking at each of Webster’s 940 students, as- sessing each student’s personal academic level and individual needs. Through this process, Borrelli-Connor and the teachers created a student body that today includes classes separated for special education and emotional support, as well as five honors classes. “We need to accelerate our students because when they leave me, they need to get into the magnet middle schools,” Borelli-Connor said. Borelli-Connor’s no-excuse attitude and determination were recently observed by Webster staff, students and continued on page 3 D emolition crews worked into the afternoon, knocking down brick after brick of what once was an abandoned warehouse, located at 1871 York St., in a blaze that left two fire fighters dead. A warehouse went up in flames and became a five-alarm fire at 3 a.m.today. Police cars and fire trucks were parked on surrounding streets for hours, preventing traf- fic and onlookers from getting too close to a still-smoking area. The cause of the blaze has not yet been determined, although authorities are investigating the owners of the building. Lt. Robert Neary and firefighter Daniel Sweeney were killed on the scene this Investigation Ongoing into Blaze That Left Two Firefighters Dead By Samantha Anderson morning after a wall collapsed during the blaze, official said. The men were investigating an extension of fire in a nearby building. Two other firefighters were injured. The men were from the Ladder 10 Company. At a morning press conference Fire Com- missioner Lloyd Ayers and officials discussed the tragic events of the morning. “The last time we lost multiple firefight- ers was in August of 2004,” Ayers said. “The fire burned out of control for a significant period of time.” Resident Sadie Kimball was awoken by the sounds of fire truck sirens around 3 a.m. Explosions and sparks from nearby continued on page 2 Demolition crews knocked down remaining walls to prevent a collapse.

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PHILADELPHIA, SUMMER 2012VOLUME 1 ISSUE 1 WWW.KENSINGTONJOURNAL.COM

Together, the Philadelphia Water Department, New Kensington

Community Development Corp., Phila-delphia Horticultural Society, the Mural Arts Program and Philadelphia Parks and Recreation, have created Philadelphia’s first Big Green Block. The block between Front Street and Frankford Avenue and Palmer Street and Norris Avenue has undergone a major makeover.

Centered around Kensington High School for the Creative and Performing Arts and the Shissler Recreation Center, the block incorporates green roofs, rain gardens, porous parking pavement, geothermal well field, storm water trees and trenches, infiltration basin, rainwater cisterns and murals.

“Our partner have really helped us turn this section of the neighborhood around,” said Sandy Salzman, executive director of the New Kensington Community Development Corp. “All these wonderful pipes and everything that goes over to the rain garden center, it has just made this neighborhood so much more sustainable and so much more green. It is such a wonderful place to be, we always thought it was a wonderful place to be, but now

our kids get to play on a ball field that has grass instead of cinders.“

The Big Green Block falls in place with the rest of the city’s sustainable plans, which is to green many of its streets and alleys while beautifying the city, neighborhood by neighborhood.

Recently, Kensington celebrated its green street and newly planted trees through the Philadelphia Water Depart-ment’s city-wide green initiative, Soak it Up, Philly! During the ribbon-cutting ceremony, the public was given a tour of the Big Green Block and received a les-

son in its operation.“It’s a $2.4 billion program that’s

going to be implemented over the next 25 years,” said Tiffany Ledesma Groll, a public outreach specialist and consultant for PWD and public affairs for the Office of Watersheds. “We are the only city in the country that’s actually approaching this problem this way. A lot of cities have been doing this for a long time addressing this problem through those pipes expan-sions and treatment fund expansions, but we are the first ones to address water pol-lution through greening. So you’re going to see this all over the city; pretty much 60 percent of the city has those sewer problems. So in those sections of the city, basically the older parts of the city, you’ll see a lot of that.”

As rainwater runoff flows into the drain at the corner of Frankford Avenue and Montgomery Street, it is collected in the inlets and plumbing underneath the street and sidewalk. The plumbing system is designed to hold 16,000 gallons of water, which prevents a mixture of sewage and rain (stormwater) runoff from flooding the sewers in the city, because

continued on page 3

Kensington Home To City’s First Big Green BlockBy Stephen M. Rose and Whitney R. Segel

Neighborhood kids planted flowers around a newly planted tree.

Principal Christine Borelli-Connor said that excuses are not acceptable at her school.

Principal Awarded for LeadershipBy Samantha Anderson and Justin Boylan

In 2006, Christine Borelli-Connor became principal of John H. Webster

Elementary, located at 3400 Frankford Ave.

A Philadelphia native, Borelli-Connor entered a school community where she

said teachers were working hard, but were not informed about the most effec-tive methods of education.

“Certain things were not established,” Borelli-Connor said. “If you have students who are on grade level, why are they doing the exact same work as the students who are below grade level?”

The new principal started an initiative to address this. Her team began looking at each of Webster’s 940 students, as-sessing each student’s personal academic level and individual needs. Through this process, Borrelli-Connor and the teachers created a student body that today includes classes separated for special education and emotional support, as well as five honors classes.

“We need to accelerate our students because when they leave me, they need to get into the magnet middle schools,” Borelli-Connor said.

Borelli-Connor’s no-excuse attitude and determination were recently observed by Webster staff, students and

continued on page 3

Demolition crews worked into the

afternoon, knocking down brick after brick of what once was an abandoned warehouse, located at 1871 York St., in a blaze that left two fire fighters dead.

A warehouse went up in flames and became a five-alarm fire at 3 a.m.today. Police cars and fire trucks were parked on surrounding streets for hours, preventing traf-fic and onlookers from getting too close to a still-smoking area. The cause of the blaze has not yet been determined, although authorities are investigating the owners of the building.

Lt. Robert Neary and firefighter Daniel Sweeney were killed on the scene this

Investigation Ongoing into Blaze That Left Two Firefighters DeadBy Samantha Anderson

morning after a wall collapsed during the blaze, official said. The men were investigating an extension of fire in a nearby building. Two other firefighters were injured. The men were from the Ladder 10 Company.

At a morning press conference Fire Com-missioner Lloyd Ayers and officials discussed the tragic events of the morning.

“The last time we lost multiple firefight-ers was in August of

2004,” Ayers said. “The fire burned out of control for a significant period of time.”

Resident Sadie Kimball was awoken by the sounds of fire truck sirens around 3 a.m. Explosions and sparks from nearby

continued on page 2

Demolition crews knocked down remaining walls to prevent a collapse.

Page 2: The Kensington Journal

2

changed dramatically from vacant lots and abandoned buildings to paved lots with major retailers and smaller local businesses.

While both business associations work through Impact to get major and small retailers to move into the area, each as-sociation has a different focus from the other. Aramingo’s work falls along Ara-mingo Avenue between Allegheny Ave. and Wheatsheaf Lane, where the associa-tion deals with more than 125 retailers and services such as Target, Applebee’s and Home Depot. Kensington-Allegheny

works with mrore than 75 smaller businesses and retailers that are cen-tered around

Kensington and Allegheny Ave. It works with retailers such as SneakerVilla, Crick-et Cellular and Quick Stop Market as well as services such as the Esperanza Health Center and the Hispanic Community Services expansion.

Generating revenue and providing locals with major shopping areas that are within walking distance are certainly goals, but the goal at the forefront is to provide the neighborhood’s residents with local job opportunities.

“We (Impact) lent a little bit of money to the developers and developments, and that gave us the opportunity to get to meet all of the businesses and then place low-

continued on page 4

“It’s great to see these businesses provide job

opportunities.”

Chick-Fil-A kitchen manager Christina Tovar takes great pride in her work.

A mother of three, she represents the many low-income families who are find-ing jobs in Kensington due to the many developments and businesses that Impact Services Corp., Aramingo Business Asso-ciation and the Kensington and Allegheny Business Association have helped bring into the neighborhood.

When Tovar heard the plans of a new restaurant opening at 2301 E. Butler Street in February 2008, she jumped at the opportunity to transfer because it was

Community Group Helps Local Residents Find JobsBy Whitney R. Segel and Stephen M. Rose

much closer to her home. Working at her current location for two years, she has proven how dedicated of a worker and parent she is by moving up in the ranks and becoming the restaurant’s kitchen manager. She said the decision to transfer was a spart one, as she has been able to save more money while being able to support her family, which is no longer considered a low-income family.

“Many of my co-workers are from low-income families and it’s great to see these businesses provide job opportuni-ties to them and help them move up in

positions and get out of the low-income status to the point where they can provide for their families,” Tovar said.

Since 1974, Impact Services Corp. has been planting its roots in Kensington by providing residents and businesses with its services that allows the two groups to take advantage of their full potential by growing and benefiting cohesively.

Based in and around the heart of Kensington, Impact has had its hand in the community’s development through several facets. It offers affordable hous-ing, veteran services, community and economic development and employ-ment training programs.

Through its employ-ment and training programs, Impact has helped more than 22,000 people with a chance to enter the workforce. Impact ca-ters to specific groups of people who have a harder time at finding jobs and getting hired such as homeless veterans, recently returned ex-offenders and those who participate in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.

The only way Impact has been able to help both those who complete the program and the neighborhood’s major commercial corridors was by creating two business associations, the Kensington and Allegheny association and the Aramingo association. Since the three teamed up in 2005, Kensington’s landscape has

John MacDonald, President and CEO of Impact Services, spoke at the monthly meeting held at Chick-Fil-A.

continued from page 1electrical wires could be seen from

her backyard. Kimball and her neighbors were notified on proper safety measures.

“They had everyone wake up and just be ready to go,” Kimball said. “They were able to get it [the fire] under control around 5 a.m. ”

Many area residents were relocated to neigh-borhood churches. Tran Deng and his family were moved due to heat caused by flames. Deng’s house received extensive damage and melting to the siding. His home is still without electricity.

Flying embers this morning dam-aged six neighbor-hood homes in total. Kensington High School for International Business, Kens-ington High School for Culinary Arts and Kensington High School for Urban Education were all closed for the day due to power outages.

PECO workers fixed electrical wiring into the evening in an attempt to bring power back to residents. Many resi-

dents sat on their front stoops observing cleanup work from fire and demolition crews.

Smoke still filled the air and winds blew debris into the crowd of watching neighbors. Kimball explained that the

warehouse was once a hosiery factory but had been closed down for years.

“It was vacant but definitely occupied by the homeless,” Kimball said.

Mayor Michael Nutter was not in the city but released a statement today on the tragedy.

“This is a tremen-dous loss for their families and the City of Philadelphia. My prayers go out to their families and to the Philadelphia Fire Department whose

members have lost two of their brothers,” Nutter said.

When looking into what may have caused the early morning blaze, Ayer said investigations will be underway.

“The fire marshal will take a good look. Any criminal activity we will follow up,” Ayer said.

The massive warehouse fire still had

Firefighters secured the scene to prevent onlookers from entering the debris-filled area.

By Jordan Strohl

In Kensington, football is more than just a game to the boys and men who

play at Scanlon Park every week in two separate leagues, one for boys from 13 to 18 years old and one for men over 18.

The players get together on teams to practice and play against one another.

Each team is associated with a differ-ent church in Philadel-phia. For the younger team, the boys must memorize a verse from the bible, if they don’t know the verse, they can’t play. After the games, they all kneel together and pray.

This is German “Champ” Sanchez III’s first year playing in the men’s league.

Football Brings Kensington Together

“Before this team, I haven’t seen the inside of a church for maybe five or six years,” Sanchez said. “Now, I’m in there every chance I can get.”

This sport and these teams give young men a chance to stay off the streets and away from drugs and other bad influ-ences. “It’s more than just football,”

said Felix Rodriguez, a 16-year-old player. “We’ve become friends with the people that we play

with when we are off the field too.”Pastor Ben Rosario said he has been

proud to be part of this program and to be a role model for many of the men in the community.

Boys and men from both age groups practiced at Scanlon Park in Kensington.

“We’ve become friends with the people that we play with when we are

off the field, too.”

Warehouse Fire Investigation

PHILADELPHIA, SUMMER 2012VOLUME 1 ISSUE 1 WWW.KENSINGTONJOURNAL.COM

Page 3: The Kensington Journal

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Isaac A. Sheppard School located at 120 W. Cambria St., had been on the

radar of the School Reform Commission for years. With a building constructed in 1897 and an enrollment of less than 300 students, the commission did not see the school’s operation within its budget.

The Sheppard community in Kensing-ton was preparing for what seemed to be the inevitable elimination of the beloved school. Sheppard parent Betsy Hernandes had tears in her eyes at the thought of the elementary school closing. Her friend Yvette Caban translated her words from Spanish.

“I had three children go here; the edu-cation they were given was very good,” Caban said.

The School District of Philadelphia’s School Reform Commission was created in 2001. Governed by five appointed members, the commission oversees district decisions and votes on matters including school closures.

Fernando Gallard is the chief of com-munications at the School District of Philadelphia. He explained why a vote on school closures needed to be made.

“In the last decade, the school district has not closed schools,” Gallard said. “There are more buildings than seats.”

Enrollment at public schools in Phila-

delphia has dropped significantly over the last decade. Approximately 210,000 students filled seats a decade ago, today the number has dropped to 145,000. This is due to relocation of students as well as enrollment in private schools.

The expenses of operating low-enrollment schools did not fit within the district’s $2.5 billion budget. A $186 million budget gap needs to be closed within the next school year. As a result, nine schools were up for closure. On Thursday, the commission voted to close Drew Elementary, FitzSimons High, Har-rison Elementary, Levering Elementary, Pepper Middle, Philadelphia High School for Business and Sheridan West Academy.

Only E.M. Stanton Elementary and Sheppard Elementary were voted to stay open. The improved test scores of stu-dents were key to keeping those schools open.

“The SRC wanted to keep schools open with education programs that were successful,” Gallard said.

Gallard said the commission did not want to do harm to schools where students were learning and succeeding. Principal James Otto talked about the suc-cess of the school community.

“Our teachers focus on the state stan-dards,” Otto said. “Overall, our children

are doing very well.”Sheppard parent Blanca Sosa agreed

that her children are learning.“I have two daughters here and the

school is very good,” Sosa said.Philadelphia City Councilman David

Oh met with Sheppard volunteers fighting for the school’s survival. He said he is happy the school is not closing. Oh con-gratulated the school’s students, parents and faculty for their success.

Neighborhood School Improves Test Scores, Remains OpenBy Samantha Anderson

“Continue to provide the type of education and presence that will uplift the community,” Oh said.

Sheppard has served as a place of safety in a neighborhood filled with crime and drugs. Had the school closed, many students would have had to walk through these dangerous blocks to a new school. Now children in the neighborhood will continue learning at Sheppard for the foreseeable future.

Parents met for a morning meeting discussing Sheppard’s potential closing.

continued from page 1 parents. The principal’s efforts were rewarded with the 2012 Lindback Award for Distinguished Principal Leadership. Along with seven other city principals, Borelli-Connor was honored for her con-tributions to the Webster community.

The School District of Philadelphia website states the winner must demon-strate high expectations and develop people within their schools and communi-ties. Webster students, parents and staff all were required to write letters to the district explaining why they felt Borelli-Connor should be an award recipient.

Webster staff member and aide Debbie Volpe said she believed Borelli-Connor was deserving of the award.

“I think she relates to the parents very well and to her staff. She’s the best, she’s awesome,” Volpe said.

Borelli-Connor said she was very ap-preciative of the award, and nomination, by her school.

“It was the proudest moment of my professional career,” Borelli-Connor said.

As part of the honor, Webster School was awarded $15,000 in grant money, which Borelli-Connor said will be used for an audio system that students will use for performances and concerts.

High expectations will continue to exist at Webster school, Borelli-Connor said. The principal credits the hard work of teachers and students for Webster’s achievements.

“We don’t use the single-parent house-hold, we don’t use poverty, we don’t use those excuses,” Borelli-Connor said. “We put things in place here to make sure that the students have the resources that they need.”

continued from page 1once the sewers are filled they can’t properly filter the water which ends up going directly to the rivers and polluting the city’s natural waterways.

Another part of this plan is that it will not only prevent pollution from entering Philadelphia’s drinking water, but the water that is held underground will first go to the newly planted trees and trenches which provides them with life and the neighborhood with something fresh and beautiful to look at.

“Right now, the Water Department and the Streets departments are rewriting the

book, literally, on how our streets are de-signed and they are going to be designed going forward as a green structure,” Mayor’s Office of Transportation and Utility chief of staff Andrew Stober said. “Having trees on your block managing the storm water increases the value of the neighborhood. It’s so much more pleasant to walk down a street that has trees on it.”

Ribbon was cut to open the green block.

Comcast, the largest home Internet provider, is having a difficult time bridg-ing the digital divide in Kensington.

Introduced last fall, Comcast’s Internet Essentials pro-gram aims to pro-vide low-income families with home Internet access for $9.95 a month rather than the usual price of about $30. Com-puters were also made available for $150.

Comcast said over 100,000 Philadelphia resi-dents are eligible for the program; however, since its launch in Septem-ber, fewer than 500 families have registered.

Kensington residents said a lack of advertis-ing is the reason for such a low number. Many could benefit from the discount, but have never even heard of the program.

“I never seen anything about it,” Kens-ington resident Molly Santiago said.

A student at Prism Career Institute, Santiago said Internet access could be

Comcast’s Internet Essentials Program Not Reaching ResidentsBy Samantha Anderson and Justin Boylan

useful for her studies.“I have to come home, and then the

library closes at four, so it’s hard to get Internet,” Santiago said.

The Free Library of Phila-delphia’s Kens-ington Branch is closed on Fridays and Sundays as well because of budget cuts. This makes finding time for Santiago to complete her work even more difficult.

Internet Es-sentials requires families to have children who qualify for free or reduced lunches in school.

Comcast did not want to comment on the effort, but is increasing adver-tising in hopes of gaining more participants.

Santiago sug-gested television commercial.

“That is the main thing I would see,” she said.

Until then, both the Kensington and McPherson Square libraries offer comput-ers for residents.

A resident used a computer at the Kensing-ton Library in order to gain Internet access.

PHILADELPHIA, SUMMER 2012VOLUME 1 ISSUE 1 WWW.KENSINGTONJOURNAL.COM

Green BlockPrincipal Award

Page 4: The Kensington Journal

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The Kensington Journal is published by the Department of Journalism at Temple University. Please visit www.kensingtonjournal.com, which includes a Facebook page for comments and local events.Comments are welcome. Anyone interested in advertising or other matters should contact co-managing editor Christopher Harper [email protected] Copyright 2012

continued from page 2 -income folks that we work with at Impact into some of those businesses,” Impact president and CEO John MacDon-ald said.

This six-year plan that will cost more than $45 million upon completion has already seen many of Impact’s employ-ment and training graduates find jobs at the businesses and retailers that have settled and opened up shop along the Ara-mingo shopping corridor. By the end of the six-year plan, the new businesses and retailers will create more than 600 jobs in addition to the ones already created.

“Last year, we placed 1,100 to almost 1,200 people with businesses in the areas that we have been building and develop-ing,” MacDonald said.

Representatives from companies attend the monthly meetings held at Chick-Fil-A, which are hosted by Impact Services. Also in attendance are local law enforcement and representatives from Allied Barton, the security company that provides its services to many of the businesses involved with Impact Services Community Development Corp. They gather to discuss the previous month’s progress, crime reports, future plans and any suggestions that anyone may have.

Tovar has personally seen how Impact Services Community Development Corp. has impacted the area.

“I see the meetings that go on here and I see how our restaurant has benefited from being a part of Impact’s business as-sociations,” Tovar said. “The businesses that are part of the program all help each other out, like if we run out of something we can run to Lowe’s, or vice versa. All the businesses on the avenue have really great working relationships with one another.”

Residents of Kensington had the chance to start spring by attending

a homebrewing workshop with Barry’s Homebrew, a outlet store located at 1447 N. American St. that specializes in help-ing people get started making their very own wine and beer.

The workshop was held at Greensgrow Farms, located at 2501 E. Cum-berland St., this past weekend and the sunny March day was rivaled only by the ice-cold homemade German beer provided by Barry’s Home-brew during the workshop.

Jimmy McMillan, who organized and ran the workshop, has been brewing his own beer for more than 12 years. He and his partner bought Barry’s in September, and are looking to get the word out about their store to anyone interested in turning their kitchen into a brewery.

“We make about 30 to 40 gallons per week at the store,” McMillan said. “We use dry hops and wet hops, as well as clone beers. If you come to Barry’s, we can help you make your own recipe.”

McMillan said the homebrewing kits start at $38 and range up to $50. Each comes with homebrewing necessities like the five-gallon beer tub and the hydrom-eter, which tests the alcohol level.

At the workshop, McMillan went through the steps to make a Caramel Belgian Whit, one of the store’s new kits. He covered all the equipment needed, the brewing and san-itation process, fermentation times and test-ing. McMillan also emphasized the importance of patience.

“Treat it like a tea; you have to let it sit,” McMillan said. “You also might not want to start drinking right when you start brewing. It takes a good amount

of time, and who wants to be drunk before cleanup?”

“I love trying new beers, but I don’t have much experience with homemade kits,” said Christian Suchecki, who heard about the workshop from a friend in Fishtown. “This is definitely a cool hobby to take up.”

After letting the grains sit in two and a

half gallons of water at 160 degrees, Mc-Millan pulled the bags out and was ready to add the malt extract. He passed around different types of malted grains for people to taste, including malted barley and one that had the slightest hint of bacon.

“I have had a lot of different beers just working at Barry’s,” McMillan said. “Blueberry beer, pumpkin beer and even a mango IPA (India Pale Ale), where they sliced mango, froze it and added it during fermentation.”

The workshop, which charged a $20 fee that served as a donation toward the agricultural organization, continued with the addition of the hops and wheat extract to push the sugar up. McMillan said in order for the yeast to survive, after the hops are added, it must be cooled down to 80 degrees to avoid a nasty, sour beer.

After an hour boil, McMillan added another two and half gallons of cold water, which is the last step before fermentation begins, a process that will take two weeks before the beer is ready to be bottled.

Barry’s Homebrew hosts brewing meetings every first and third Friday at 7 p.m., where people can share recipes and swap homebrewed beers.

Homebrewing Store Kicks Off Spring With WorkshopBy Samantha Anderson

St. Laurentius School, located at 1612 E.

Berks St., has spent most of the year raising money in order to keep the school from closing. Through the hard work of dedicated alumni and local residents, the school will stay open.

The fundraising, how-ever, has not stopped. On April 21, St. Laurentius Rectory hosted its first annual 5K Run and Finish Line Festival.

“The plans for this have been happening since December, but we have been preoccupied fighting the school’s closing,” said A.J. Thom-son, who organized the event and whose daughter attends St. Laurentius. “Our goal today is to raise $20,000.”

Thomson said he could not have asked for a better day. By 11 a.m., it was 70 degrees and sunny.

“This is great. We would have started earlier though, because it’s so hot, but the festival afterwards locked us into a time,” Thomson said.

There were an estimated 300 runners and walkers registered for the 5K run. They all had matching T-shirts support-

ing the event and raced for the chance to win medals or trophies. The older and experienced runners led the pack, while families and children were able to hang behind and walk the path around the neighborhood.

“We want to continue to try to be the best school in the neighborhood,” said Father Frank Gwiazda, pastor at St. Lau-rentius, which was established in 1890. “This will go a long way.”

Once the runners crossed the starting line at Hewson and Tulip streets staff and volunteers prepared for the all-day fes-

Charity Run Keeps Doors of St. Laurentius School OpenBy Justin Boylan and Samantha Anderson

tival. If the satisfaction of finishing a 5K wasn’t enough, there was music playing and a food stand serving hot dogs, burgers and funnel cakes.

The first to cross the finish line was Kyle Francis, 16, from Bensa-lem, Pa., who ran the 5K in less than 18 minutes. The winner among the women was Erin Was-nick, who clocked a time of 22 minutes.

“I run track and field in school, so I’ve done this before,” Francis said. “Although my best time

is 16:41.”There were a lot of handshakes and

congratulations as more and more run-ners crossed the finish line, and soon what started as a grueling 5K under the scorching sun quickly transformed into a block party.

“We had good cooperation from the city and the police department, which really made all this possible,” Thomson said. “There aren’t many events like this in the neighborhood, which makes this a good way to bring everyone together while benefiting the school.”

Thomson instructed the runners to follow the path marked by arrows on the roads in order to complete the 5K run.

McMillan added two bags of wheat extract be-cause he was making a Caramel Belgian Whit.

“If you come to Barry’s, we can help you

make your own recipe.”

PHILADELPHIA, SUMMER 2012VOLUME 1 ISSUE 1 WWW.KENSINGTONJOURNAL.COM

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